"Iām protecting this woman."
He Yeye stood in front of Bai Ruxue.
Even though He Yeye looked like nothing more than a young girl, her face still retaining a cute, baby-like chubbiness.
But her name was He Yeye.
And that name alone was enough to make every Cultivator across two worlds dare not underestimate her.
"He Yeye, are you sure about this?" Feng Qianqiu frowned.
He was incredibly puzzled.
A He Yeye who cared about nothing.
A He Yeye who hadnāt returned to the World of Ten Thousand Laws for a thousand years after running away from home.
Yet here she was, rushing back for a True Dragon that had nothing to do with her, even vowing to protect the dragonās life.
"Iāll say this one last time."
He Yeye walked forward, gripping her scythe.
"You old geezers, Iām protecting this woman. If you have any objections, take it up with my scythe!"
As her words fell, He Yeye casually swung her scythe behind her.
With a deafening BOOM,
The earth trembled, and a deep fissure cracked open in the ground, stretching for dozens of miles.
Behind He Yeye, her Heaven and Earth manifested with a thunderous roar.
The girlās Heaven and Earth held a phantasmal scythe in one hand and a phantasmal candied fruit skewer in the other. Its two pigtails rested on its shoulders, its disdainful eyes looking down on everyone as if they were ants.
The other Cultivators, terrified, all took a step back. They looked to Feng Qianqiu, waiting for his decision.
Feng Qianqiu stared at He Yeye, who simply stood there, meeting his gaze.
After a long moment, Feng Qianqiu shook his head and sighed. "I will report this to the Human Race Alliance. I hope you know what youāre doing, City Lord He."
Feng Qianqiu knew he couldnāt defeat He Yeye, so he wouldnāt waste his energy trying.
After Feng Qianqiu left, the others breathed a sigh of relief and departed as well.
āIn the eyes of these Cultivators, they had already done what they were supposed to. It was the City Lord of Demon Suppression City who insisted on protecting Bai Ruxue. Faced with He Yeye, even Feng Qianqiu had left. Even if the Human Race Alliance were to assign blame, it wouldnāt fall on them.ā
"Old geezers will be old geezers. How boring!"
Once the old men were gone, He Yeye snorted, dismissed her Heaven and Earth, and put away her scythe. She turned to look at the woman crumpled on the ground before her.
"Hmm, youāre really beautiful," He Yeye nodded. "No wonder that kid Xiao Mo liked you so much. If I were a man, Iād like you too."
"Who are you? Why did you save me?" Bai Ruxue asked slowly, her voice devoid of any life.
"It wasnāt me who wanted to save you. It was Xiao Mo."
He Yeye calmly met her golden, vertically-slitted eyes.
"Decades ago, Xiao Mo was in the World of Ten Thousand Laws, killing Demons to accumulate Merit for you.
Although he was a scholar, every time he stepped onto the battlefield, he became a completely different person, fighting as if he had a death wish.
Later, I found out it was because his beloved was injured. He needed Merit from the Human Raceāa great, great deal of it.
Later still, as the World of Ten Thousand Laws was on the verge of being breached, he achieved Sainthood through the Confucian Dao.
Without him, Wanli City would not have held.
If Wanli City hadnāt held, a huge breach would have been torn in the World of Ten Thousand Laws, and the war would not be what it is today.
Before he passed, I asked him what he wanted in exchange.
He asked for this."
He Yeye took out the Yin Yang Fish Pendant from her robes.
"This pendant can only be used once, but it can cross the two worlds. Besides that, it has another meaning: it entitles him to ask one thing of me, as long as itās something Iām willing to do.
Xiao Mo asked me that when he died, I would save your life.
I agreed.
And now, Iāve fulfilled that promise."
He Yeye crouched down and placed the Yin Yang Fish Pendant in front of her.
Bai Ruxue stared at the pendant before her, her eyes as lifeless as stagnant water:
"Heās dead."
He Yeye nodded. "I know."
"He didnāt even leave a soul behind. Iāll never be able to find him again."
He Yeye looked up at the vast blue sky. "I know."
"He was my reason for living. Now that heās gone, why should I go on?" Bai Ruxue said in a low voice.
"That, I donāt know."
He Yeye lowered her gaze from the sky.
"Iāve never loved anyone. I was born to kill enemies. I donāt know what love is. I promised Xiao Mo I would save your life, but if youāre determined to die, I canāt stop you."
He Yeye looked calmly at Bai Ruxue.
"However, Bai Ruxue, in my opinion, anyone in this world can die. Anyone but you."
He Yeye turned and walked away into the distance.
Her figure had already vanished, but her voice echoed leisurely between heaven and earth.
"Live. You have to live.
Xiao Mo was your reason for living, and you were his entire world.
If you die, then Xiao Mo will be well and truly dead..."
...
ćIn the highest Celestial Domain.ć
Her Divine Sense retracted from the Lower Realm.
With a single step, She arrived at the westernmost part of the Celestial Court.
In the westernmost part of the Celestial Court, a long river flowed backward and upward before Her.
The specks of starlight in the long river were all the scattered souls of fallen Cultivators.
When these soul fragments were fully submerged at the end of the horizon, they would completely return to the Great Dao, dissipating into the fabric of heaven and earth.
She walked toward the long blue river, only stopping at its bank.
She pricked Her fingertip with Her nail, and a drop of Divine Essence Blood fell into the blue river.
From amidst the endless fragments of souls, specks of soul-light began to float out of the long river as if they had been summoned.
These soul fragments continuously gathered.
When the very last speck of soul-light drifted from the river,
the soul fragments formed the image of a scholar in green robes.
Under the pull of the Laws of the Great Dao,
the scholarās Divine Soul flew down from the Celestial Domain, heading toward the path of reincarnation.
But just as the green-robed scholar was about to depart, She flicked another wisp of Her Essence Blood into his Divine Soul.
The scholar would be reborn, just like any ordinary soul.
But from now on, whenever She wished, She could sense the scholarās general presence. She would never have to worry about not being able to find him again, no matter how many years passed!
But even for someone like Her,
with the path between heaven and earth severed, forcibly re-forming a Saintās Soul and interfering with the Laws of Heaven and Earth had left Her face pale.
But She didnāt care.
She turned and strode away, the hem of Her skirt trailing through the clouds.
In the span of a single breath, She was back in the empty divine hall.
She sat back down on Her divine throne, slowly closed Her eyes, and once again fell into a deep slumber.
āYou think you can get away with having your soul scattered so easily?ā
āWhen I awaken, when heaven and earth are reconnected...ā
āI will kill you with my own hands!ā
...
...
[I originally wrote over 7,000 characters today, but after constant deleting and rewriting, Iām only left with a little over 5,000...]